Thinking about running for Congress? For hopeful Democrats, there was no better place to be this weekend than hobnobbing with the party elite and donors at inaugural festivities.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee leveraged the weekend to tout a trio of potential recruits for House races in 2014. A Democratic source said the following three recruitment prospects attended the committee's inaugural luncheon at the Italian Embassy on Jan. 21:

Democratic National Committeewoman Erin Bilbray-Kohn. She has said she's "seriously thinking" about challenging Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., in the 3rd District. The daughter of a former Nevada congressman, Bilbray-Kohn served as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's, D-Nev., top finance aide in 2010. Democrats view Heck as vulnerable after he won re-election with 50 percent of the vote, and the president won the district.

Businessman Michael Sherzan. Democrats are talking him up as a challenger to Rep. Tom Latham, R-Iowa, in the 3rd District. A close ally of Speaker John A. Boehner, Latham defeated longtime Rep. Leonard Boswell, a Democrat, in the Des Moines-based district in 2012 — even though the president carried the district.

While in town, the trio met with DCCC Chairman Steve Israel, N.Y., about their potential campaigns, plus other senior Democratic members, according to the source.